Night Characters, Places, and Terms

Elie

The narrator of the memoir; a teenage Jewish boy who survives the Holocaust and tells his story.

Shlomo

Elie’s father; a respected community leader who stays with Elie throughout their imprisonment.

Tzipora

Elie’s younger sister; separated from the family early and presumed killed.

Moishe (the Beadle)

A poor, kind man who teaches Elie about Jewish mysticism and warns about the impending danger of the Nazis, ultimately being ignored by the community.

Juliek

A young violinist from Poland; plays music even in the camps

Madame Schächter

A woman on the train to the camps who has visions of fire and screams warnings about what is coming.

Tibbi and Yossi

Two brothers Elie befriends in the camps; they dream of going to Palestine after the war.

Dr. Mengele

A Nazi doctor at Auschwitz known for deciding who lives or dies during selection and for cruel experiments; The Angel of Death

Franek

A foreman (Kapo) who beats Elie’s father to get Elie's gold crown.

Idek

A Kapo known for violent and unpredictable behavior toward prisoners; whips Elie for "spying" on him.

Rabbi Eliahou

A kind, devout man searching for his son during a death march.

Akiba Drumer

A deeply religious prisoner who begins to lose faith and hope in the camps.

Sighet

Elie’s hometown in Transylvania (modern-day Romania), where the story begins.

Auschwitz-Birkenau

A major Nazi concentration and extermination camp complex where many Jews were killed.

Buna

A labor camp (subcamp of Auschwitz) where Elie and his father are sent to work.

Buchenwald

A concentration camp in Germany where Elie and his father are taken near the end of the war.

Synagogue

A Jewish place of worship and prayer.

Cabbala (Kabbalah)

A form of Jewish mysticism that explores the hidden meanings of God and the universe.

Kaddish

A Jewish prayer said in memory of the dead.

Selection

The process where Nazi officers decide which prisoners will live (for labor) or be sent to their deaths.

Kapo

A prisoner put in charge of other prisoners by the Nazis